I'm beyond grateful that on May 17th, so many ladies embarked on a moms' getaway to Start Loving You in San Diego!
Women came from all over the country and Canada (15 states, to be exact - the same amount of states as our first conference in Portland 2017 - how cool is that?!) to be celebrated, inspired and motivated. Many local SoCal moms were also there and honestly, several of them were instrumental in sharing our event and showing us love and support before we even showed up to their hometown! That's what it's all about - women helping women! It's been phenomenal to connect with the ladies who took part in our event, whether it was as a guest, speaker or a sponsor. That's my favorite part - connecting with others but also watching the relationships made at our events that will continue to grow!
While life is whizzing by and kids are growing like weeds, moms tend to take the backseat to self-care and self-love. In San Diego, our speakers were able to share stories of how they've grown as women and moms and perservered, failed, given up, started over, stayed strong, etc - all while keeping their family at the top of their list. It really reminded me, and lots of our guests, that moms don't have to quit our daydreams just because we have the title of MOM.
We kicked off Thursday evening at The Marriott Marquis at the Marina with a Welcome Reception under the palm trees! All the gorgeous styling for our event was provided by Soiree by Ria; Photography by the talented Alex Paige Clark.
Friday morning was a rush of excitement as we welcomed everyone to breakfast (courtesy of Umpqua Oats and SD Toyota Dealers "start your engines" coffee bar!) and continued to hand out our premium swag bags at registration! Our guests went crazy over our sponsors and their products inside the bags!
Our emcee, Meredith Masony of That's Inappropriate, was back for her 2nd time to host our event and lead the way in laughs! The morning started off with Keynote Jordan Page of FunCheaporFree, urging us to "own it" - own who you are and embrace it! Heroic mom, Angel Fiorini, and Sportscaster/Blogger Kristen Hewitt both shared their personal stories of inspiration (cue the Kleenex!). Author/Entrepreneur Kristy Dickerson and LadyBossMama Founder Laura Kyttanen took the stage with some serious motivation to hustle and "unfreeze" where you're stuck at in life!
We toasted with surprise mimosas to welcome Cat & Nat and enjoyed some down to earth chit chat with these BFFs who've come a long way from posting funny #momtruths in their minivan!
But first, let me take a selfie!
Lunch time was the perfect break to shop our Sponsor Marketplace and meet some of our presenters, including authors Kristy and Shasta.
STARTplanner
Our Title Sponsor
A huge THANK YOU to STARTplanner - we are so grateful!
We started the afternoon session with our GIVEBACK to the local community. Tamara Keefe & Misty Miller of Live Love Works were instrumental in bringing this heartfelt project together and each guest was able to package several "blessing bags" for needy families through Operation Hope - always one of our favorite parts of the day!
We were wowed by Chatbooks Co-founder Vanessa Quigley and her 4 sisters (Rikki, Leah, Shelley and Kara) - they left us laughing & crying! Lifestyle Blogger Rachel Pitzel then shared her story of being a mompreneur through the different stages of social media and her own personal journey. Then it was the perfect time to go on a quick adventure outside in the warm San Diego sun to enjoy a Pixsweet Icepop on the boardwalk! Our afternoon was capped off by the beautiful Shasta Nelson, author and friendship expert, who left us all knowing that it is OKAY and actually healthy to go have fun with your girlfriends, even when you're a busy mama and that we are entitled to take that time for ourselves. We couldn't have dreamed up a more perfect keynote presenter to end our 2nd annual conference!
Speaking of dreaming, the whole weekend was pretty dreamy!
No cooking or cleaning, no laundry, dirty diapers, chores, deadlines or being a chauffeur - instead we got to trade our normal routine in for some well-deserved me time. Walks in the fresh sea air, dinner out (and how could I forget to mention our amazing VIP dinner at Seasons 52 on Friday night?!), sleeping in, hunting for sand dollars on the beach, shopping at the marina (for the kids, of course!) and quality girl-time with my friends, new and old. I already can't wait to go next year!
Stay connected to find out where we're headed in 2019! Announcement coming this summer!
